escutarvsexcitarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“escutar” and “excitar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,472
“escutar” frequency rank
#40,124
“excitar” frequency rank
44596
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature escutar excitar
Definition prestar atenção auditiva; dar ouvidos provocar excitação em

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set escutar and excitar apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
escutar
7 ch
excitar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. escutar (/iʃ.ku.ˈtaɾ/) and excitar (/ɐjʃ.si.ˈtaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44596, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

escutar is recorded at frequency rank #4,472, classified as averb, pronounced /iʃ.ku.ˈtaɾ/. excitar is at rank #40,124, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐjʃ.si.ˈtaɾ/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 44596, this pair ranks #20,853 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of escutar vs excitar

Shared letters: acert. Private to "escutar": su. Private to "excitar": ix.

"escutar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "excitar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • escutarecsutar · esccutar · esctuar · escuatr · escutarr · escutra · escuttar · esscutar
  • excitarecxitar · exccitar · exciatr · excitarr · excitra · excittar · exctiar · exictar

Frequency comparison

escutar#4,472
excitar#40,124

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "escutar" and "excitar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/iʃ.ku.ˈtaɾ/ versus /ɐjʃ.si.ˈtaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "escutar" or "excitar"?
"escutar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,472 in our Portuguese list, against #40,124 for "excitar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering escutar vs excitar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “escutar” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list